“Probably, the face she wants you to see.”
They were back at the bank robberies. But they still didn’t have a connection to JJ. “You said she works at your bank?”
“Yes.”
“And we know she was in the photo of Andrew, the one where you were in the background.”
“Yes. Where are you going with this?”
“She has access to your accounts. She can see how much money you have and where it comes from.”
She nodded.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how much money are we talking about?” He didn’t really want to pry—that was between her and Joe—but maybe, that’s how JJ was connected.
“Joe has two thousand dollars deposited every month. I use a thousand for rent and bills and put the other thousand in a savings account for JJ for college.”
They were looking at quite a large sum. “You said he’s been doing this since you found out you were pregnant?”
She nodded again.
“JJ is six, so that’s what—$81,000 in his account?”
“Somewhere in there. I’ve had to use some for emergencies, like when he broke his arm and I had to take him to the emergency room, but then, there’s been some months where my tips were enough for bills, so I wouldn’t take as much out.”
Eighty-one thousand dollars was a lot. It was enough to kidnap someone for. But even more than that, if Joe was alive when JJ was kidnapped, he could have been used as ransom. They could have asked for a far greater amount from Joe. Joe’s death wasn’t planned. When he died, they had to kidnap JJ and settle for the amount in the account now. “You were wrong when you said you didn’t have something worth kidnapping for. They’re after JJ’s savings account.”
“But Madison works for the bank. Can’t she just take it and disappear?”
“It’s not that simple. There are safeguards in place to keep tellers from doing things like that.”
“Makes sense. Does that mean Andrew told her about us and that they’re working together?”
“It’s a strong possibility. We’ll need to talk to Andrew again.” He dug his phone out of his pocket. Chances were that Andrew was with Victoria. Reid didn’t have his number, and he didn’t want to call Victoria for it. She didn’t need to be dragged into the middle of this right now. He typed out a quick email to Emily and asked whether she had the number. Hopefully, she would check her email and send the number quickly.
For the time being, they were at a standstill. JJ had been watching television since he woke up. He’d been a trooper through all this. The math game Quinn had on her phone had kept him occupied a number of times. “Hey, big guy. What’s that math game you’re always playing?”
“It’s a game that uses math to play. You do math problems and earn coins. Then, you use the coins to play special games.”
“Well, since your mom’s phone is at my house, what do you say we download it on my phone and you can show me how to play?”
JJ’s eyes brightened. “Yeah!”
“Okay.” Reid sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, letting JJ show him which game it was.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Reid had made JJ so happywith one act of kindness. The two were sitting huddled together on the bed, hunched over his cell phone. Her heart was full. Reid was doing so well with JJ. He’d already shown her he was a protector. Now, he was showing his heart for children. He would ask JJ for help with a math problem, and JJ would answer it, and then, they’d giggle over whatever game they unlocked. Multiple high fives were exchanged, and Reid would tell JJ how smart he was and praise him on what a good job he’d done. When JJ made a mistake, Reid would tell him that it was okay, that people make mistakes and he needed to keep trying.
As she watched them together, she knew he truly was a good guy. When this was all said and done, she’d honestly be able to say she was glad God had sent him to their aid.
She wished Reid would take his own advice, though. He was held captive by a past that haunted him. He’d made mistakes. Someone else had made a mistake and paid with his life. But it wasn’t Reid’s fault. He’d learned and grown from that, and he was obviously making better decisions and trying harder.
Reid’s phone chimed, and he turned it upright. “I need to look at this email, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
Reid stood and joined her at the small hotel table. JJ went back to his cartoons. “I’ve got Andrew’s phone number.”
